“I’m assuming that the hiring manager was in charge of this rejection,” Loving-Gibbard told me. “He was sitting 15 or 30 feet away from me for hours. He should have walked me out of the building and said, ‘Thank you very much.’ Or told me two hours later.”

“I felt manipulated and lied to,” Loving-Gibbard said, as well as that his time was wasted.

One of the interviewers explained that even though the specific job — which the interviewer calls a req, short for job requisition (the lingo in which jobs are numbered and posted) — was filled, HP might find another programming job for which it could hire Loving-Gibbard. The e-mail said:

“While it is true that the one specific req (job requisition) you applied for has been closed we continue interviewing qualified candidates for additional reqs. This email does not indicate that the decision has been made not to extend you an offer.”

That makes some sense. HP employs 150,000 people, and even as it’s trimming its overall workforce, it is constantly hiring new people. The company under CEO Mark Hurd is hitting new levels of efficiency, so it hardly seems likely they’d deliberately waste staff time.

HP spokesman Ryan Donovan could not discuss the specifics of Loving-Gibbard’s experience, given the confidentiality rules of job interviews, but he said in an e-mail:

“Today’s job market is obviously highly competitive. HP is committed to finding the very best talent at all levels, and when we find people, we may want to consider them for jobs beyond the one that originally brought them to us. The idea is that this opens up possibilities for them and for us and increases the likelihood of a successful fit.”

But what Loving-Gibbard said in an e-mail to HP also makes sense, considering that even though this is a tech company, it still runs on people power:

“HP has the right to hire whomever they like for their staff. HP can waste as much of their staff’s time as they like. But nobody, not even large and respected companies like HP, has the right to deliberately waste my time with sham interviews. I lost income that day, and took time away from other clients.”

Click here to read the e-mail Loving-Gibbard received after his interview.

Dear Stewart,

Thank you for applying for the position of Software Design Engineer, requisition # 944553. After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that we will not be pursuing your application on this occasion.

We will retain your information in our candidate database for one year which can be accessed in the event of future job openings. You have the option of having your information automatically reviewed against the required skills for future job openings as they occur.

Thank you for your application. We wish you all the best in your career search.